Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump paid a visit to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday, but he didn't take the scheduled tour he had planned to take after a local union of border patrol agents opted not to participate. Instead, in what amounted to little more than a publicity stunt, Trump briefly mingled with Laredo, Texas, Mayor Pete Sanz, hosted a news conference at the Rio Grande and reminded voters of his polarizing stance on immigration.
Over the course of his GOP campaign thus far, Trump has come under fire from the Hispanic community for incendiary comments regarding illegal immigrantion. With tensions between the presidential hopeful and Latino leaders high, the National Border Patrol Council encouraged the local Laredo unit to pass on the opportunity to escort Trump to the border.
Greeted by both protesters and supporters at the airport, Trump was quick to label the local border patrol union members as "petrified and afraid of saying what's happening" at the border. According to Trump, the former reality television host put himself in great danger by traveling to the border city but did so out of a desire to campaign in "every nook and cranny" of the country.
Trump's rhetoric regarding immigration has become a cornerstone of the businessman's GOP bid, and he doubled down on the stance that illegal immigration is a chief threat to the country.
"There's great danger with the illegals, a tremendous danger," Trump said.
Despite the hard stance on illegal immigration, Trump remains confident that his plans to bring jobs back from overseas will be enough to appease the 11 million legal Mexican immigrants currently living in the United States.
"I'll take jobs back from China, I'll take jobs back from Japan," he said. "The Hispanics are going to get those jobs, and they're going to love Trump."
